


Scuppered

by Pepperweb



Series: Bloom [2]
Category: Victoria (TV)
Genre: Doll no.123, Episode 1, F/M, Falling In Love, Realisation, Rewriting History
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7993618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pepperweb/pseuds/Pepperweb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He knew the exact moment he realised he was starting to have feelings for her.</p>
<p>How Lord M fell in love with Victoria, from episode 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scuppered

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Readers!  
> I don't know what's got into me, I keep needing to write these two, so this has now become a mini series of works.
> 
> Again, the words the two speak are not my own, they're from the telly, but I've tried to interpret the thought process behind them.

He knew the exact moment he realised he was starting to have feelings for her.

They had been coming on gradually throughout the day, from the ride in the carriage to Buckingham House, to following her around the veritable palace, right up until the moment she called him ‘Lord M.’

It was then he knew he was scuppered.

~

The carriage ride was pleasant. The Queen was becoming more sure of herself each day and he marvelled at the change in her. She took him for a friend now, she trusted him not to be like her former protectors and he strove his hardest to avoid telling her what to do. Instead he taught her, like a pupil and he found her eager to learn.

‘So many windows!’ she exclaimed upon seeing Buckingham House for the first time. Of course, being so sheltered her whole life in Kensington Palace, she had not ever seen her uncle’s residence.

‘It nearly bankrupted your uncle George,’ he pointed out, keeping his disapproving thoughts about George IV’s spending habits to himself.

‘How light it will be after Kensington,’ said the Queen.

‘Did you find it so very dark there?’ he asked somewhat teasingly.

‘It was hard to see things clearly,’ she replied, obviously thinking about her overbearing mother and that wastrel Sir Conroy.

He accompanied her on a tour of the House, the servants still unpacking and uncovering all of the furniture and portraits. But she did not seem to mind the hustle and bustle. Indeed, she picked up her skirts and ran through room after room, himself barely able to keep up with her wonderful enthusiasm. He was hard pressed not to look down at her exposed ankles as she bounced along before him. He should have known then he was on a slippery slope, but the final blow didn’t come until later.

They came to the throne room, the chandeliers still lowered and covered, but otherwise empty. She paused when she saw the throne. He’d seen it before of course, when her uncle sat upon it, but for her everything was new.

She skipped up to it and had to jump a little to sit down. He had to smother laughter at the sight before him. Her tiny feet several inches from the floor.

‘Yes,’ he said, looking up at her, and saying in a wry tone ‘I think before your first levee we should probably try to find a throne that fits.’ He knew very well by now that she was sensitive about her height, so he made sure to make statements that assured her that she should not have to accommodate for her lack of height, instead things and people, she accommodate her.

She responded, ‘Yes, it is hard to be dignified when your feet are six inches from the floor.’ He wanted to beam in response, but kept himself controlled. Six weeks ago, she would never have been this comfortable around him to come back at one of his gentle teases.

Yet she still seemed surprised when he said she could call Buckingham House -Palace- whatever she fancied. She was knowledgeable about some things, but her power as Queen seemed almost unknown to her. He was resolved to try to fill the gaps in her education as best he could.

Somehow, they ended up in the royal bedchamber. He wasn’t quite sure how that happened and was desperately trying not to look at her, or the bed or anything really.

‘At least here I’ll be completely separate from Mama. I cannot have Sir John hovering about me all the time,’ she sat down on a partially covered bench. Again, the Queen had let slip an insight into her childhood, to not escape the Duchess or Sir Conroy even in her bedchamber. Their lurking presence had indeed permeated every aspect of the Queen’s life.

Well, hopefully this was to be the end of it. Although he knew extracting her Majesty from the clutches of those two would likely be difficult and potentially messy.

‘I believe the Duchess relies on Conroy a great deal,’ he remarked cautiously. Her mother and Conroy were often dangerous topics so best to tread carefully. ‘I believe he has been handling her affairs for some time,’

‘They all believe because I’m small I’m still a child!’ she cried, her anguish clear upon her face, ‘They’ve always underestimated me, they expect me to fail!’ There was a long pause and in that moment she looked so lost, ‘They don’t believe me capable of being Queen.’

Melbourne heard what she was really saying. The Queen was scared, no-one had ever told her she could do this, that she _could_ be Queen. No one had ever believed in her and her self-belief and confidence had got her this far but she was wobbling, her insecurities were all rising to the surface. All around were hostile faces, cold and scrutinising, she needed someone to believe in her. She needed to know she was not alone.

He sighed, ‘I think they’re mistaken Ma’am,’ he said as sincerely as he could. How could this perfect thing be so fragile? Her ‘protectors’ had kept her so sheltered, so withdrawn. She had no solid foundation upon which to stand, upon which to begin her reign. They didn’t believe her capable, that was true, and they had set her up to fail.

Well not if he could help it.

He carried on, ‘And anyone who dares comment on your stature should be sent straight to the Tower.’

She laughed at that, giving him a beautiful smile.

But now it was time to be serious, ‘I’ve only known you a short while Ma’am,’ he said, choosing his words carefully, ‘but I’m confident you will bring great credit to the Monarchy. It’s true that your education may be lacking in some areas, but you have a natural dignity that cannot be learnt.’ He faced her, hoping his sincerity was understood.

‘You don’t think I’m too short to be dignified?’ she asked, voice small.

‘To me Ma’am’ he replied, ‘You are every inch a Queen.’

She looked at him then. Really looked at him with eyes blue like cornflowers. He inhaled, his chest suddenly tight.

‘Lord Melbourne,’ she said, rising up and moving to stand in front of him. He could smell her perfume, had been smelling it all day, it confronted his senses, disarmed him, much like her smile, and her eyes. He could sense danger, but was seemingly unable to do anything about it. He forced himself to keep a neutral face.

‘When we first met you offered to act as my personal secretary,’ she said.

He remembered, ‘It was an offer you did not accept,’ he replied with an inkling of where this was heading.

‘But you are still willing?’ she asked.

‘I would be honoured Ma’am,’ he responded. He was almost proud of the way they had reached this point, the two of them, learning how to be around one another. This outcome was more than he could have hoped for this morning, waking in his bed, alone in Brocket Hall.

‘Thank you,’ she said, acknowledging that he could have very well refused, but had not. He knew how hard it was to ask for assistance, and he hoped now that she had not been carelessly hurt by the experience, she may have the confidence to ask for more in the future.

She held his gaze, a smile emerging on her face as she regarded him.

‘Lord M,’

There was a pause, as she waited to see his reaction as the nickname. It pleased him more than she could ever know. What could he do but smile back? He couldn’t let her know truthfully what that small moniker meant to him. She was the one woman in the world he could not have. And yet the one his heart had decided would only now be the reason it beat.

And that’s the moment he knew. The moment he realised he was in love.


End file.
